Artificial Intelligence and culture: Europeans can no longer tell works of art apart

Brussels – Art and culture are essential elements of recreation and leisure, so much so that Europeans unquestionably consider them “important,” according to eight out of ten respondents (79 percent), with Italians — at nine out of ten (89 percent) — even more convinced. However, new technologies are beginning to pose a problem. In Europe, many people can no longer tell the difference between a work of art that is original — thus human — and one produced with artificial intelligence. The latest Eurobarometer survey, devoted to cultural and artistic activities and how Europeans engage with culture, highlights the problem.

“The rapid pace at which generative artificial intelligence has infiltrated our societies is reflected by the survey,” the authors acknowledge in the paper. Less than half of Europeans familiar with works of art (48 percent) admit they can tell the difference between visual, musical, and literary artifacts produced by humans and those made through machines and programs. A figure that stops at even lower rates in other countries, three, including Italy (46 percent). 

In total, there are 12 EU member states in which less than half of the population surveyed admit to being able to distinguish between art that is the result of human endeavor and artificial art (Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Spain, Italy, Lithuania, France, Sweden, Bulgaria, Denmark, Portugal, and Greece). Practically, the advent and spread of artificial intelligence, even in the way of producing art and culture, has become a problem for half of the European Union.

The Eurobarometer points out that the results reveal different perceptions and attitudes toward the role of Artificial Intelligence in art and culture in the European Union. Although “a significant portion of the population generally prefers human-made content (81 percent of Europeans, 76 percent of Italians), the usage of generative AI tools concerns just under a third of Europeans,” with only 31 percent agreeing. An additional 42 percent of Europeans think it could be a concern.